Dayton will challenge judge's order blocking day care union vote

The challenge comes after the attorney general's office laid out three options for the governor after a judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking a union election. Politics in Minnesota says none of the options would get the election back on track any time soon.

The challenge comes after the attorney general's office laid out three options for the governor after a judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking a union election. Politics in Minnesota says none of the options would get the election back on track any time soon.

A Ramsey County judge on Monday issued a temporary restraining order to stop the election, which Gov. Dayton authorized last month. The judge said supporters of a union vote should draft a bill and have the Legislature decide the issue.

Governor Mark Dayton is calling for a union vote among daycare workers. He’s issuing an executive order paving the way for the vote. State officials say the vote’s results should be tabulated before Christmas. Republican lawmakers say the order exceeds the governor’s power and plan to challenge its legality.

A group of child care providers opposed to an effort to unionize the business are suing. They claim Gov. Dayton overstepped his authority in signing an executive order authorizing child-care workers to vote on whether to form a union.

The Ramsey County judge who blocked a unionization vote by child care workers ruled that Governor Dayton had exceeded his authority by ordering the vote without involving the Legislature. Dayton says he disagrees with the ruling but has decided against an appeal.

State Sen. Mike Parry of Waseca says he thinks the governor does not have the authority to sign an executive order authorizing a union vote because the state's day care workers are independent contractors.

One child care provider who has joined a lawsuit to block a vote to unionize tells Forum Communications' reporter Don Davis that she worries a union would take over all negotiations with state officials, leaving her with no voice of her own. But union supporters say the move to stop the vote is just a ploy by "cheap-labor conservatives" and that unionization would provide better pay and benefits for workers in the industry.